Friedrich Nietzsche was a renowned 19th-century German philosopher and philologist, celebrated for his profound critiques of religion, morality, contemporary culture, philosophy, and science. He is widely known for introducing groundbreaking concepts such as the death of God, perspectivism, the Übermensch, eternal recurrence, and the will to power. Nietzsche began his career as a classical philologist and, at the age of 24, became the youngest person to hold the Chair of Classical Philology at the University of Basel. His works were often controversial, especially for their critical stance on Christianity, which invited significant criticism during his lifetime. However, his writings have since been recognized as a call for individualism and self-realization, emphasizing the development of human potential. During World War I, it was reportedly said that German soldiers were given copies of Nietzsche's philosophical novel Thus Spoke Zarathustra for inspiration, though the extent of this practice remains debated. His ideas influenced several prominent political leaders, including Theodore Roosevelt, Charles de Gaulle, Richard Nixon, and controversially, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. However, Nietzsche's philosophy was often misinterpreted or misused, particularly by the Nazi regime, which distorted his ideas to fit their ideology. Nietzsche's writings also left a profound impact on numerous 20th-century intellectuals and philosophers, including Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, Gilles Deleuze, and Leo Strauss.